The International Olympic Committee ( IOC) and international betting integrity body ESSA are to join forces, with the integrity of this years Olympic Winter Games, held in Pyeongchang, central to the agreement.

Under the terms of the deal, the main aim is to detect and prevent any risk of manipulation, at the this years competition.

Friedrich Martens, Head of the Olympic Movement Unit on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions (OM PMC) said on the occasion of the agreement: “Preserving the integrity of the Games is of paramount importance for the International Olympic Committee.

In order to achieve this we need the experience, expertise and intelligence from all operators and stakeholders involved. ESSA, with which we have enjoyed a fruitful cooperation for years, will surely have a significant contribution thanks to its network and know-how”.

ESSA details that it already contributes to the IOC Integrity Betting Intelligence System (IBIS), and is to continue to reinforce the interlligence work of the organisation during the upcoming games.

In particular the firm is to make one its full time mentoring operations available, with the overall aim of ensuring the all betting patterns related to every Olympic event is carefully monitored to detect and prevent potential risks.

Khalid Ali, Secretary General of ESSA, added: “This collaboration between ESSA and the IOC

demonstrates the depth of trust and respect that has been built between us over a number of years.

It also highlights our shared ambition to drive corruption out of sport and regulated betting markets. The integrity of the Games will undoubtedly be enhanced as a result of this partnership.”

Essa recently published its annual integrity report for 2017, with figures detailing a total of 266 cases of suspicious betting being reported to relevant authorities in 2017, following a tally of 114 alerts in Q4 alone.